


Sickness + Riley

by bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid



Series: The World Needs More Mac and Riley [13]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Sick Character, Sick Riley, Sickfic, good big brother mac, lotsa fluff, riley is independent and stubborn but still a better patient than mac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 22:33:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14530689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid/pseuds/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid
Summary: "i was just wondering if you took requests? if you are would you be willing to write a story where riley is sick and mac takes care of her? i read your story “sickness” on ao3 and i loved it. just wondering if we could maybe get a part 2? keep up the amazing writing!"-Requested Anonymously on Tumblr





	Sickness + Riley

Riley woke up to the shrill sound of her phone. She groaned and reached for it, praying to whatever gods were out there that it wasn’t Matty calling her into work. It was a Saturday and they were supposed to have it off. Of course, they all knew that days off were always subject to change if there was a crisis.

She squinted at the bright screen and saw that it was Mac. She considered ignoring the call but figured that would raise suspicion. The last thing she wanted was to let her team know that she was sick. She was sleepy and miserable and having a bunch of people hovering would only make her feel worse.

“What’s up?” Riley answered the phone, trying to sound as normal as possible. There was a pause on the other end of the line before Mac answered,

“I was just wondering if you were still planning on coming over tonight? Boze and Jack were worried when you didn’t answer their texts.”

“Oh, yeah…” Riley trailed off when she glanced at her clock. It was 4 in the afternoon and she had been sleeping since 11 pm last night. She had known that she was exhausted and sick, but she hadn’t realized how bad it was. There was the sound of shuffling from Mac’s side of the call.

“Riles?” Mac said quietly after a few moments, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I just took a short nap and I’m still a little disoriented,” Riley lied. She really hoped that Mac wasn’t currently in earshot of Jack. The older agent would freak out if he heard Mac asking Riley if she was okay.

“Uh-huh,” Mac said with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

“As for tonight, Matty gave me some Phoenix work that I think I’m going to get a head start on,” Riley said, ignoring the fact that Mac obviously didn’t believe her.

“Oh? And what work is that?” Mac asked curiously.

“Um, just some work increasing Phoenix’s cybersecurity,” Riley lied quickly.

“Wouldn’t you need to be at the Phoenix Foundation to do that?”

“No...well not for all of it,” Riley faltered.

“I know you’re sick, Riles,” Mac said suddenly, dropping the facade.

“I’m not, no. I just want to spend a night in. Everyone’s entitled to a lazy day,” Riley said.

“Riley,” Mac’s voice was soft but serious. “You weren’t feeling well yesterday, and now you are taking naps and wanting to skip game night. I know what that adds up to.”

“How do you know I wasn’t feeling well?” She asked in surprise.

“I’m an observant person and an expert at hiding sickness, remember?” Mac said with a wry chuckle. At his words, Riley thought about the times when Mac had been sick and fought them every step of the way. She remembered how frustrated she'd been when Mac wouldn't let her help. Now, here she was doing the same thing.

“Fine, but it’s just a bug or something. Nothing major, please don’t tell Jack,” Riley pleaded. There was silence on the other end of the phone for long enough that Riley wondered if Mac had hung up on her. She looked at her phone and saw that the call was still connected. “Mac?”

“I’ll be there in 10,” Mac’s voice came back and before Riley had a chance to object, he had actually hung up the phone.

*****

Mac snuck into Bozer’s room and grabbed some of the cold medicine that his friend had. Mac absolutely despised the stuff, so naturally, he had nothing in his own room.

He shoved the medicine into his back and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he headed out onto the balcony where Jack and Bozer were sitting around an already blazing fire. Jack caught sight of him first and raised an eyebrow.

“Going somewhere?”

“Yeah, Riley’s refrigerator broken and she’s been waiting for hours for somebody to come fix it. I told her I’d go over and take a look. She should’ve just asked me in the first place, would’ve saved her the time and effort,” Mac told his lie smoothly. He did not enjoy lying to them, but Riley had asked him not to tell them, and a lie was the only way he could get out of the house.

“I’m surprised she didn’t call you. She knows that you have kept our ugly old thing running for years past its expiration date,” Bozer said. Mac, who loved their green vintage fridge, decided to ignore Bozer's comment.

“Riley’s just too darn independent,” Jack responded, seeming to buy Mac’s excuse.

“Yeah, well I’m just gonna go fix it. Save her the money of hiring someone,” Mac said, turning to head off.

“Need a hand?” Jack offered.

“No, I got this. Plus if we make a big deal about this, she’ll never accept my help again,” Mac said. This statement at the very least was true.

“And then you and Riles will come back?” Bozer asked. Mac gave him a thumbs up and headed out. 

He had only been to Riley’s apartment once when she’d first moved in. The team had helped her move and unpack and she had made a thank you dinner for them. Other than that one day, she’d never invited them back. Not that anyone minded. Riley was a private person who was entitled to her own space. Plus, Mac and Bozer by far had the best place for entertaining.

Riley buzzed Mac in and he climbed up the stairs to the third floor. His knock on her door was answered by a very sleepy looking Riley. Her hair was down and had the messy look of someone who'd just rolled out of bed. She was also wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. She looked miserable and tired and Mac had to fight the urge to pick her up and carry her back to bed. Riley squinted at him and then invited him into her dark apartment.

“You have a headache?” Mac guessed.

“Yup, and a slight fever and I’m super tired. I fell asleep last night after the mission and didn’t wake up until you called me at 4,” Riley admitted. Mac took off his bag and then reached out to put the back of his hand on her forehead. Riley jumped slightly at his sudden movement, but relaxed when she realized what he was doing.

“You do feel warm,” Mac said with a frown. It was hard to tell how flushed she was in the dim lighting. “Have you taken anything?”

“Nope,” Riley said with a heavy sigh as she sat down on her couch.

“Well, luckily for you, Boze has pretty much every over the counter medication there is,” Mac said, pulling out so aspirin. He got her a glass of water and brought her the pills. “Here, these should at least help with the headache,” He said, putting them into her outstretched hands.

“Thanks,” Riley took the medicine without argument.

“Look, Riles, I know this is hypocritical of me, but you should have just let us know that you weren’t feeling good,” Mac said, sitting on the couch next to her.

“I just didn’t want Jack to know,” Riley responded.

“Yeah, his caregiving can get a little over the top,” Mac, who had first-hand experience, sympathized. 

“Actually, it’s kinda the opposite. Whenever I was sick as a kid, Jack would always freeze up. Or at least he did the first few times that it happened. It was like he was so worried about doing the wrong thing, so he just ended up doing nothing and leaving it up to my mom. He eventually chilled out a bit and learned how to take care of me, but I can still remember the fear on his face the first time I got sick when my mom wasn’t home.” Riley said, leaning back against the couch with her eyes closed.

“So, you don’t want to tell him because you don’t want him to worry?” Mac asked, a little surprised at her reasoning. Jack’s worrying was a central part of his personality. Mac suspected that Jack didn’t feel right if he wasn’t fretting about something.

“I don’t want him to be afraid. I know he worries a lot, but seeing me sick seems to remind him of that first time when he felt so helpless, I hate seeing him like that,” Riley said.

“Yeah, it’s sort of like how he acts whenever I get shot,” Mac responded. Ever since the time when he’d almost died, even a bullet graze sent Jack into hyper-protective mode. Riley opened up her eyes and looked at him with a disbelieving expression.

“I hate that you can say that so casually,” She said finally.

“I’m sure Jack would agree with you on that one. And that’s enough talking for now, you need to get some rest. But first, drink the rest of that water,” Mac said, gesturing to the forgotten glass in her hands.

“I’ll drink the rest of this, but I don’t want to go back to sleep,” Riley said as she raised the glass to her lips.

“And here I was just beginning to think that you were a good patient,” Mac teased.

“I spent all day sleeping, I don’t think I could sleep more if I tried,” Riley said, putting aside her now empty glass. “How about we watch a movie?”

“Riles, a bright screen is not really a great idea for a person with a headache,” Mac gently reminded her. Riley seemed to consider this for a few moments.

“Okay, then you watch the movie and I’ll just close my eyes and listen. It’s better than just sitting here in a dark and quiet apartment,” Riley suggested. “Please, Mac, I’m bored.” She added when he hesitated. Mac suddenly realized that her main form of entertainment was probably doing things on her laptop. He remembered how bored he’d gotten when he had been waiting for his burned hands to heal. He’d been unable to tinker, which was his main form of entertainment.

“Okay, how about we watch a movie you’ve seen a lot so you won’t be tempted to peek,” Mac said, already knowing what movie she would suggest.

“Princess Bride,” Riley said immediately. “I’ve seen it enough times to be able to visualize the entire thing in my head.”

“I’m shocked,” Mac said dryly as he got up to put the DVD in.

When he sat back down, Riley settled herself so her head was resting on his leg. Mac suddenly remembered a time when he had a headache and Jack had teased him by offering to play with his hair. Jack had said that he used to do that with Riley when she wasn’t feeling well. So, as the movie started, Mac started to brush one hand lightly through Riley’s hair. She turned slightly to look at him and gave him a big smile.

“Jack used to do that.”

“I know, he mentioned it once. Now close your eyes and listen to the movie,” Mac said, returning her warm smile. Riley stuck her tongue out at him but did as he said. Mac continued to stroke her hair. He grinned when he heard her whispering the lines of the movie in time with the actors.

About halfway through the movie, Mac realized that Riley was no longer whispering the lines. That, plus her deep breathing, led him to conclude that she had fallen asleep. He smiled because that was what he’d hoped would happen.

Mac kept the movie going because he also enjoyed the film, but he turned down the volume so it wouldn’t wake up Riley. He also kept playing with her hair in an absent-minded manner.

Mac knew that he should text Jack what was happening, but he also knew that Jack would insist on coming over. So, Mac decided that as soon as Riley woke back up, he would text Jack. But for now, he would let her get the rest she needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Requests are always open!! It might just take me a bit to write them (Like it did for this one, sorry Nonnie)
> 
> You can request something in the comments or on my Tumblr: http://macspaperclips.tumblr.com/
> 
> Also, The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies of all time, so that part was 100% self-indulgent. If you've seen it, feel free to come talk to me about it!! If you haven't seen it, go watch it, then come talk to me about it :-D


End file.
